Breakfast Boost: Eggs

By Magic Breakfast's Nutrition Team

Eggs are amazingly versatile. There are so many different ways for a child to enjoy eggs as part of their breakfast, such as in omelettes, frittatas, quiches, or just plain hard boiled, or scrambled.

Eating eggs for breakfast is a great way to get a source of non-dairy protein into a child’s body in the mornings. Did you know that a raw hen’s egg (50g) contains 6g of protein? The Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) per day for children aged between 7 to 10 years old is 28.3g, so including eggs in their breakfast gets them off to a great start!

As well as being a low-cost, easily absorbed source of protein, eggs are a really good source of vitamin D (for healthy bones), vitamin A (for eyesight), B2 and B12 (for a healthy heart and nervous system). They also contain iron and folate which are important for maintaining good energy levels and healthy blood.

Research has shown that eggs contain good cholesterol therefore there is really no limit to how many eggs you can eat! They also contain a compound called choline which can help protect memory and which is important for brain development.

A good, healthy tip is to cook eggs without adding much salt or fat, such as oil or butter, as frying eggs can increase their fat content by approximately 50%. So remember to choose healthier cooking methods such as boiling or poaching eggs.

Although the most popular type of eggs consumed in England are hen’s eggs, you might want to experiment with some other types. Below are some varieties of eggs (not to scale), with their protein content highlighted:

The best thing about eggs is that they can be enjoyed all year round! Giving children eggs should be encouraged, as they are a nutritious breakfast choice when cooked in a healthy way. Just remember to buy "lion stamped" eggs to protect your family against salmonella (as these eggs have been inoculated), and to cook eggs thoroughly for younger children.

Magic Breakfast's head office is in London (our office space is kindly lent to us by Pearson), but our School Partners are located all over England and Scotland so they can be close to the schools they work with.

Magic Breakfast not only provides food aid to schools, but has an expert team to help identify and reach every hungry pupil, offer nutrition advice and training, give parents nutrition and food hygiene training, and advise on post-breakfast activities such as book clubs and exercise sessions.

Magic Breakfast was founded by Carmel McConnell, MBE, in 2003, but she started buying and delivering breakfasts to five schools in the London borough of Hackney three years previously after hearing from headteachers there that many of their pupils couldn't concentrate until they had had their lunch as they were too hungry.